What was wolf month

The full moon in January is often referred to as the "wolf moon. People used to think that wolves howled a lot in winter due to hunger, but now we know they make these vocalizations for different reasons, including marking their territory, finding other pack members, strengthening social bonds and communicating while hunting.

Another traditional name for the January full moon is the "center moon"—a term used by the Assiniboine people from the northern Great Plains of North America. This name refers to the fact that the January full moon falls in the middle of the winter season. There are several other traditional names for this moon used by Native American peoples, including the cold moon, frost exploding moon, freeze up moon, severe moon and hard moon. The moon is said to be full when the Earth is located directly between the sun and our natural satellite, which occurs roughly once every calendar month.

Technically, the moon becomes full at a specific moment in time. While the Great Conjunction is behind us, Jupiter and Saturn are still relatively close to each other, but both are now so close to the sun that seeing them is not possible. In fact, Jupiter is in conjunction with the sun on Jan. It will emerge in the predawn sky in the coming weeks. Saturn has already taken its place west of the sun; it rises on Jan. Saturn also will emerge from the sun's glare as the year progresses.

Mars , meanwhile, stays visible throughout the first half of the evening. As the sun sets and the full moon rises, Mars will be about halfway between them; in New York it reaches its maximum altitude of 65 degrees at p. In the constellation Aries , it's classic red color and relative brightness makes it easy to spot from even a light-polluted city. Northern Hemisphere skies are full of bright stars — the constellations of Orion, Taurus, Gemini and Canis Major are all in roughly the same patch of sky.

Each is made up of enough first- and second-magnitude stars that they are visible even from light-polluted locations; the three stars marking Orion's belt are obvious even in cities like New York or Los Angeles. The southern latitudes also have some famous constellations and bright stars during their summer months. From mid-southern latitudes by about 8 p. Canopus is the brightest star in Carina and the second-brightest star in the sky.

Looking just below Canopus one can see the constellation of Centaurus, the centaur home of Alpha Centauri, the closest star to our solar system and the Southern Cross. A Southern Hemisphere skywatcher can also trace Eridanus, the river, from its beginning near the "foot" of Orion the star Rigel all the way towards the west to its end at the star called Achernar, known for being the least spherical star in the sky as it rotates so fast that it is flattened.

The January full moon is often called the Wolf Moon, according to the Old Farmer's Almanac , which may date back to Native American tribes and early Colonial times when wolves would howl outside villages. Among the Cree peoples it was sometimes called Opawahcikanasis, the Frost Exploding Moon — for the sound of trees crackling from the winter frost common in many parts of Canada. Across popular culture, there is an association of when there is a full moon people will feel different and sometimes become a little crazy.

There is no evidence to suggest that your behavior will change more when there is a wolf moon compared with any other full moon of the year. A wolf moon is the first full moon that occurs in January , or otherwise the first full moon of the year. That event being the howling of wolves in the Northern Hemisphere, which is most commonly heard in the month of January.

The Fact Site requires you to enable Javascript to browse our website. But what is a wolf moon and why is it called so?

What is a wolf moon? A wolf moon essentially the first full moon that appears during the month of January. Why call it a wolf moon?